It finally happened. I entered the dark world of blogging. I never understood why anyone would want to know that I woke up, had a bowl of cereal, took a shower, etc. And I still don't understand. But this Blog is different. I was convinced that if I am serious about writing, then I needed to blog about writing. So this blog will be dedicated to the craft of writing in all its various aspects. So join in the fun!

Monday, October 27, 2014

Halloween Story

I thought it might be fun to try something a little different this time around, so here is a (sorta) lighthearted Halloween story I wrote for you to enjoy.

Dinner Plans

Xan flung his hand up
toward his neck, trying to tighten his black tie. His flaky, greenish skin
showed through the suit jacket sleeve that had been torn off on his last
outing. He lolled his eyes toward his friend, Josh. “Mmm?” he groaned, his
eyebrows (or what was left of them) raised.

“Unnnhh,” Josh
answered, nodding jerkily.

Xan lumbered out of
the house, his right foot dragging behind him. It took ten minutes to shuffle
the five houses to Susan’s house. Her main floor windows had pieces of wood
nailed across them while just a few shards of glass remained in the top floor
windows.

He limped up her porch
steps. Xan knocked on her front door until his two middle fingers fell off. She
opened the door at the same time he stooped to retrieve his digits. “Mmmm,” he
groaned.

Susan responded with a
groan and a wave behind her to her roommate. Xan caught her arm just before it
detached. She looked at him sideways. “Unnhhh,” she said, trying to stretch her
lips into a smile without them disintegrating.

The couple hobbled
their way together, almost touching hands, but keeping some distance to avoid
knocking one another’s limbs off. Xan thought Susan looked beautiful with her
blue dress accentuating the grayish tint of her skin. The shreds revealing her
stomach were quite fashionable. He hoped she had clumped her auburn hair just
for him. And her perfume of decaying flesh sent shivers up his broken spine. Xan
was pleased with himself that he had made reservations at the finest restaurant
for tonight.

They stumped along for
over half an hour, the half-moon lighting their path, before Xan pointed at the
trees a few yards in front of them. Susan turned, her eyes wide, and groaned,
“Mmmm?” When Xan nodded, Susan grabbed his arm, dislocating it at the elbow. He
reattached it, excited by her reaction. Everything was going to be perfect.

After they reached the
clearing in the trees, they waited for another twenty minutes or so while other
couples shuffled in. They all stood in a loose circle around the edge of the
clearing. Xan noted that everyone dressed in his and her finest ripped tuxedos
and evening gowns – almost like Prom in years past.

Finally an older
zombie thumped to the middle of the clearing, a squirming sack weighing him
down. He dropped the sack with a thud; a muffled moan issued from it. He turned
in a small circle with his arms open wide, surveying the customers. “Hmmm,” he
groaned with his arms raised. A cacophony of groans replied as the circle
slowly tightened.

The zombie in the middle leaned down and untied the
sack. As he tugged on it, a blond teenage girl tumbled from its interior. She
wore a gold sparkly dress. Xan nodded that the restaurant even maintained their
fine atmosphere throughout the menu.

The girl, missing one high-heeled shoe, shrieked from
the ground. Even so, she leaped to her feet. She rushed to one side of the
circle, but one of the patrons lunged at her. She jumped back and screamed. She
yanked her remaining shoe off and threw it at the zombie, lodging it in his
shoulder.

A couple nearly reached her before she noticed their
approach. Eyes wide, she screeched and ran the opposite direction. But her
escape was blocked there as well.

Xan tugged Susan back a little from the rest of the circle,
leaving a hole in the group. They hid in the shadow of a tree just outside the
circle. Finally, the girl saw the small gap in the crowd. She ran toward it. This
was exactly what Xan had planned so many nights for.

Arms reached out to catch the girl before she could
escape, but they were too slow for the human’s speed. Zombies glared at Xan for
his carelessness. But Xan knew what he was doing.

Just before the girl broke free from the circle, Xan
heaved himself into the opening. The girl’s momentum prevented her from
stopping, and instead she rushed straight into his chest. Expecting that, he
had spread his legs as widely as he could get them. Luckily, Susan realized
what he was doing and stood behind him. The inertia of the impact passed
through Xan and into Susan, causing her to fall and lose a foot, but Xan remained
upright.

The girl screamed as Xan caught her shoulder with one
hand. He reached his other hand to the top of her head. With the swiftest, and
most terrifying movement possible for a zombie, he jerked both hands in
opposite directions, silencing the girl as her neck snapped.

For several moments, there was no sound, not even
breathing, in the clearing. Eyebrows raised. Conversation started with quiet
groans directed at partners. Then louder grunts, groans, and nods of approval
were directed from the other patrons toward Xan.

Holding the rag doll in one hand, Xan turned back to
Susan. He would have offered to help her up, but that would have only managed
in pulling his own arm off. Instead, he showed her the prize while she gingerly
regained her feet. Her eyes reflected the moonlight. The atmosphere was
exquisite.

Susan offered him a rock she had brought from the
ground. Xan smashed it against the corpse’s head. He peeled back the scalp and pulled
off the shattered skull, revealing a bloody maze of a brain. He offered it
toward Susan.

“Mmmm?” Susan groaned.

Xan shook the body once toward her and nodded.

Susan reached in carefully and wrapped her hands
around the brain. She pulled firmly until the brain stem detached from the rest
of the body. Xan tossed the corpse into crowd. He could hear the other zombies
fighting over the spoils as he stared into Susan’s eyes.

Susan extended the brain to him, but Xan shook his
head. She risked a full smile before tearing a bite off.

Together, as though by candlelight, they shared their
delicacy.

Xan had shown Susan he loved her with a love that
lasts forever. A love that will sacrifice anything, even brains, for the other.

Heidi's Writings

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On this blog, you will find some advice given, and some advice requested (if you don't want me to use it, don't post it!), what I'm working on, excerpts of my writing, challenges I overcame, interesting information that popped up while working on something, upcoming publications, and anything else that interests me (or you) about my writing. So please enjoy, and check back often. I will be posting at least weekly, hopefully more.